New U2 Album Could Come This Summer

U2 had originally penciled in December 2013 as the due date for their first album since 2009’s No Line On The Horizon.

They got knocked off their schedule when they received a phone call from film mogul Harvey Weinstein. The movie producer and close friend of U2 front man, Bono, called on behalf of the producers of the film Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.

The creators of the movie were near completion of the project, a biopic about Nelson Mandela, and they wanted a song from the legendary Irish band.

“When we got the call from Harvey to say, ‘It’s happening, are you in?,’ it was like, ‘Oh man, really? Now?'” The Edge (U2’s guitarist) told The Hollywood Reporter. Despite the interruption, The Edge says there was no way that they could turn down the project due to their history with Mandela.

“It was hard to stop what we were doing,” said drummer LarryMullen, Jr. “We were on a roll. It was clear where we were going. And a decision was made to abandon ship, more or less, to focus on this.”

The band certainly did focus on it. After altering the song and the lyrics numerous times, U2 produced “Ordinary Love,” a piece of work that led to numerous accolades including a Golden Globe victory and a nomination for Best Original Song at the Oscars (where the band will perform the song for the first time).

The band are now re-focused on the job of finishing the album, and Bono made it clear to The Hollywood Reporter that U2 has no intention of rushing the process. “The album won’t be ready ’til it’s ready. But right now, people are walking a little differently. Well, they’re not walking, they’re running as if to a finish line. There’s a couple of songs that are part of the story we haven’t quite finished. We know we have to spend a couple of years taking these songs around the world, so they’d better be good.” They’ve recently released the song “Invisible,” but have stressed that the song is a preview of the new album, but is not, officially, the first single off their upcoming album.

So barring another worthy distraction, U2’s long awaited album should hit the shelves this summer. Fans of the group will get to enjoy the first album from the band in almost five years. The amount of time put in the album should lead to a piece of work that will not disappoint.